Beginning in the summer of 1944, at the height of World War II, The Man Called X was originally a kind of "FBI" program. The series soon developed a more international approach, however, featuring danger, intrigue, and romance in exotic settings. On any given Saturday or Sunday evening, Wendell Niles would say, "Wherever there is mystery, intrigue, romance, in all the strange and mysterious places of the world, there you will find "The Man Called X".
The Man Called X starred British-born actor, Herbert Marshall as suave, sophisticated Ken Thurston, undercover international troubleshooter for a mysterious American governmental agency. He is aided and abetted by that shady character Pegon Zeldschmidt played by Leon Belasco. The Man Called X was underwritten by various companies, most notably Frigidaire and General Motors as dual sponsors. The show was directed by Jack Johnstone, and Johnny Green is credited with its music.
The Man Called X began as an eight-week series for CBS, airing from July 10 to August 28, 1944. It was picked up by the Blue Network, and ran for about six months there from September 9, 1944 through March 3, 1945. After that, The Man Called X found its final home at NBC where the series was a summer filler for the Bob Hope Show in 1945 and again in 1946. In 1947, The Man Called X finally became a regular part of the NBC lineup. It was broadcast on a variety of days and times, mostly Friday and Saturday evenings, for another seven years. The final radio show was broadcast on May 20, 1952. It was picked up as a television show in the early 1950s starring Barry Sullivan, but it did not have a long run.
- complied and edited by Claire Nava
From the Old Time Radio Researchers Group. See "Notes" Section below for more information on the OTRR.
It contains the most complete and accurate version of this series in the best sound possible at the time of creation. An updated version will be issued if more episodes or better sounding ones become available.
This is the Single Episodes Page. The Certified Set includes extras not found here. It is located at OTRR Certified Set. This Single Episodes page is provided in case you want to sample the shows.Note that in many cases, file names have been modified from the original OTRR names to conform to archive.org naming requirements.
If you are interested in preserving Old Time Radio (OTR), you may wish to join the Old Time Radio Researchers Group at Facebook and Groups.io.
Relax, listen, and enjoy!
OTRR Definitions:
OTRR Maintained Set -- This set contains all known episodes in the best available audio condition with the most accurate dates and titles known to be in general circulation and based on current research at the time of release. Replaces OTRR Certified Accurate and OTRR Certified Complete.
OTRR Non-Maintained Set -- A collection of shows that has not gone through the OTRR Maintenance process.
Pre-2019 OTRR Definitions:
OTRR Certified Accurate -- A series that was "Certified Accurate" indicated that all the episodes were properly identified and labeled based on current information but that the series did not contain all known extant episodes.
OTRR Certified Complete -- A series that was "Certified Complete" achieved the highest level of certification available under the OTRR Certified Standards. This certification level implied that all the files in the series were "Certified Accurate" and also indicated that the series was as complete as possible and included all circulating episodes.
OTRR Non-Certified -- A collection of shows that has not gone through the OTRR Certification process.
Also, beginning in 2019, the version numbers of our OTRR releases changed format -- instead of v1.0 or v2.1, we are now using a version number that reflects the year and month the set was released. The format used is a two-digit year followed by a two-digit month. For example, "v1906" indicates a set that was released in June 2019, or "v1910" indicates a set released in October 2019.
NOTE: There are no passwords for any of our ZIP files. If you are prompted for a password, before downloading the file again, try unzipping the file into a shorter full folder path name -- for example, unzip to "C:\" instead of "C:\Documents and Settings\your_Windows_ID\some_other_folder\". Sorry, some of our releases contain long folder and file names, which sometimes manifests itself on the Windows platform as prompting for a password for the ZIP file. Or try renaming the ZIP file itself to a shorter name before unzipping.
Reviewer:OldRadioComedyPodcast
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
March 23, 2021 Subject:
Excellence
I absolutely love this program. Different, original, and keeps me riveted (with few exceptions) to the stories.
Reviewer:porterville
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
May 19, 2020 Subject:
An excellent radio program with Herbert Marshall
The role of Ken Thurston, ably voice acted by Herbert Marshall, is good listening. "The Man Called X" in its later radio years, would be pared with "Dangerous Assignment" with Brian Donlevy, making for an hour of excellent radio adventure/mystery.
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